A Good Jew
Willy
Hello. my name is Willy, I was born in Berlin and I used to work in the steel factory there, following in my father's footsteps.
The old bastard died in an accident there, but it was good work and good pay, and these things happen don't they. We all have to die sometime.
My Mother worked in a laundry, I have several brothers and sisters somewhere, but I don't know where the hell they are, not that I care much. We were never that close. Well, a bit
What do I smoke? I'll smoke anything me. As long as it's not those fucking awful Gauloises. They make me puke.
What might be defined as popular music was also heavily controlled by the state. Goebbels also tried to ban ‘Lili Marlene’ but had to backtrack when German soldiers throughout Europe requested that it was played on Reich-controlled radio stations.
"Yes. Theresienstadt Lager only takes processed jews. Go and submit yourself to the local Gestapo, in town."
I used to be quite quiet. No... I didn't have the many friends but one friend I did have was Otto. Ya, we used to go out drinking together, a lot! I haven't seen him since the beginning of the war, we both signed up together but he was sent somewhere else.
"Listen Fraulein. I don’t know who you are. Theresienstadt has 40,000 prisoners in here this week, and your brother may or may not be one of them. I for one am not going to ring up Kommandant Brandt’s Adjutant and ask him to pour through the list, when…"
"I’m very sorry, Kommandant. Please. This woman has been wasting our time. She insisted. First That she was a jew. But she has no papers and no star, and then that she was your daughter. She insisted that you would be very angry if we turned her away. We were unsure what to do, thought it best to bring her to your attention. We have thoroughly searched her, of course."
I works with Freddy at a guardpost at Terezin. It's a bit of a crap hole. We get very bored because we mostly do the night shift and all we do is, play card, smoke and check trunks, and bags coming in. Well sometimes, we open the gate for bigwigs who've been drinking with the Kommondant. Freddy and I like a drink too and, you know what, all this goddamn boredom helps fuel our taste for it. And why not.
Me? No I don't really miss many people from before the war, apart from Otto and my mother. She doesn't really know what I'm doing. Oh yes, she writes, and she's supports the war, but I don't think she's happy with what's happening to the Jews, even less so if she really knew what was going on.
Well, yes, before, just after the Krystallnacht time, we had a Jewish family friend that had to go into hiding.
Some, like my sister, say I'm a rough character, but honestly i haven't killed anyone yet, and if I was ordered to....?
Thing is, I'm not really kept in the loop about what's going on in the camp, well, not to begin with, and now.... well I know more about things now, the hangings, and things, and the transportations to Auschvitz, (Freddy says I'm naive). I don't.... I can't say I really like it, but orders is orders aren't they. You just have to, you know, go sort of... numb, to it all.
Or drink.
Patrick Carmody (Willy / Solcheck)
Patrick graduated from Bath Spa University in 2014 with a degree in acting, since then he has preformed with various Theatre Companies such as playing Billy in “Tales of Whiteball Tunnel”, Reg in “Table Manners”, Buldeo in “Jungle Book”. A Good Jew will be his first production with Something Underground Theatre.
